Relay races can be a fun way to try competitive walking

Photo by Carmen JackinskyThe final wave of walkers take off for the 2007 Portland to Coast Relay

I coach many racewalkers who compete in local and national races. Occasionally a fitness walker will show up to practice and proclaim that he or she is "not a competitive walker", which leads me to offer suggestions on improving efficiency for fitness purposes only and not for the sake of speed. However, more often than not, these "non-competitive" walkers will start asking me questions that are clearly competitive in nature. They seem to want an edge on their training buddies.

Many walkers confuse being "competitive" with being able to win. They believe that if they are not fast, they can't be considered "competitive". I explain to them that competitive athletes are simply motivated by competition. Winning takes a little strategy and a lot of practice. Still, competition can be very intimidating, so I recommend relay races as a way to get introduced to racing without having to do it alone.

Having a team behind you when racing can be very comforting. Veteran athletes can mentor first-timers and the team is usually close by to cheer.

There are many relay races for walkers in the Portland area. The distances range from 5 miles to over 100 miles. If you are interested in finding some buddies to race with, check out the following relay races: